


Her Rays of Light

by vedinamel



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/F, Friends to Lovers, Humanstuck, John is a dinosaur, Polyamory, Prom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-25
Updated: 2014-12-25
Packaged: 2018-03-03 12:24:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2850767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vedinamel/pseuds/vedinamel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Though growing up can be hard, Kanaya discovered that it is easier when you keep the people you care about close to you.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Her Rays of Light

**Author's Note:**

> This is a Christmas present to Tumblr user Shut-In-Princess. Happy holidays.

Seeing the dress she worked so hard on finally finished and adorning her image reflected in the mirror brought tears to her eyes. Something that she had dreamed and daydreamed about for so long, something that she feared would never happen, at long last manifested into something physical. That dress was more than just another garment; it was proof that things were getting better.

 Kanaya wiped away her tears as her mother opened the door of her bedroom, her tears had left their mark on her face and eyes, but her mother could tell that what had brought tears to Kanaya’s face was joy. Her motherly eyes had seen sorrow hiding behind her daughter’s eyes for many years, now seeing it gone had brought some tears to her own eyes.

 “Madam Kanaya” she said, “your carriage awaits you.”

 “Do you think they’ll like it? The dress, I mean”

 “Oh, my little moth” her mother approached her, putting her hands on Kanaya’s shoulders and leaning forward to plant a kiss on Kanaya’s head. “If they don’t like it, I’ll kick their butts all the way back to Derse.”

 Kanaya laughed. ”I am grateful that you’re willing to go through such harsh extends to punish my girlfriends, but I ask that you save the shoe-to-buttocks travel method for after the prom.”

 “Suit yourself. Now, are you ready?”

 Kanaya was ready. She had been for a very long time, in fact. Ever since she got out of the closet. Though people she once called friends rejected her and she found herself victim of rude comments and nasty rumors, she knew that one day things would get better.

 As her memory made a point in recording, her first ray of light burned violently, harsh, impetuous, like the sun itself. Kanaya came to laugh at the idea, believing that she was simply romanticizing her memory of the occasion, but in fact she did feel the heat of that hot summer afternoon rise even more when she saw Vriska for the first time.

 “So you’re only into girls, is that it?” Cronus asked after ambushing her at the local fast-food joint. “That’s cool, that’s cool. However, I think you’re missing out on something really nice.”

 “I’ll say it one last time,” Kanaya declared as she closed her right hand into a fist, a diamond encrusted golden right in each finger (courtesy of her mother). “I am not interested.”

 “But how do you know you’re not into guys if you never-“

 Cronus never got to finish the question. A hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled him. He had only a split second to gaze at the person so interrupted him when a fist hit him right on the nose.

 “The girl said she’s not interested, so beat it!”

 Those were the first words Kanaya heard from Vriska. They were followed by a couple of “shoo, shoo” demanding Cronus to leave the vicinity, which he did after getting up from the floor, but only after he stared at Vriska with an expression of complete horror.

 “If I had a dollar for each time I heard a guy say that.” Vriska said to Kanaya, putting her hands on her hips and looking at Kanaya with an expression that mixed both playfulness and tiredness.

 A thousand clever lines invaded Kanaya’s mind. She was the president of the debate club (before the other female members insisted that she should be kicked out), so she should have something to reply that cliché with. But all that came out of her mouth was…

 “I know…right?”

 “I come back here and things are worst than when I left. Guess people just thought that my absence meant they could turn Prospit into a douchbag convention.”

 “I’m sorry, are you from here?”

 Vriska looked at her with widened eyes and her mouth agape. It seemed like Kanaya had just kicked her favorite puppy. Jokingly, Vriska took a few steps back, sitting on a vacant chair of a close by empty table and put her hand on her chest, imitating someone in the middle of a heart attack.

 “You mean you don’t know who I am? You don’t know ME? You don’t recognize MEEEEEEEE?”

 “Forgive me, but I’m sure that if I had seen you before…I would most definitely remember.” It took a second for Kanaya to realize what she had just done. She had never flirted before and in the few seconds that it took for Vriska to reply she prayed that it hadn’t gone right over the girl’s head.

 Vriska stood up, put her hands on her hips again and looked up, doing her best to give an air of superiority. “I am the one and only Vriska Serket!”

 The people in the fast-food joint all looked at the girl who shouted her own name with such pride. The air filled with whispers for a little while before everybody went back to their own business. Vriska Serket. Kanaya had heard that name before, but never actually saw it’s owner. She gasped as her mind gathered idle gossip that she didn’t even know she remembered. The worst teen delinquent that Prospit had ever seen (or at least that’s what the current generation of high schoolers claimed).

 “Oh my goodness, you stole the tires from the principal’s car!”

 “Yep!” Vriska confirmed with a huge smile on her face.

 “And you set a fire during a Cooking Club meeting!”

 “Rice Flambé is totally a thing, you know.”

“And you…”

“Yes.”

“And then…”

 “I even stopped to take a selfie.”

 Vriska was overconfident, brash, and with sort of a sixth sense to find trouble, just like the vampire heroines from Kanaya’s novels. At least that’s what the gossips Kanaya could remember made her look like. However, as they texted each other and hung out together with increasing frequency Kanaya discovered something rather anti-climatic, but still enjoyable, about the so called greatest delinquent of Prospit: she was a dork.

  “Oh Kanaya, you’re in trouble now!” Vriska said as she clasped her hands like a Saturday morning cartoon villain. “No one has ever been so fucked like you’re right now in all of history of being fucked!”

 “I do not know how things escalated to this level. Everything was going in a favorable way for me. Is this your fault?”

  “Are you blaming me for your colossal fuckery? That’s not very classy of you, Kanaya. This is the moment of truth! Make your move!”

 “Very well, here goes nothing.”

 The dice rolled over the board, coming to a full stop with the face marked with the number 7 facing up.

 “Ha! Almost there, but not good enough! Your character fails to escape the attack and is disintegrated by the Evil Empress’ laser beams! You’re dead, my friend.”

 “I don’t think this sort of game is my forte, Vriska.”

 “Yeah, no shit. Who even rolls a Lawful Good demon temptress? We can start over if you want. Guess I’ll help you make a better character.”

 As their first sleep over went on and Kanaya watched the one eyed girl get so involved in their role-playing game of Planets & Denizens in her Mindfang pajamas, she couldn’t help but wonder how that girl got such a bad reputation. What could that dorkish girl have done to deserve to be transferred all the way to Derse, in the other side of the country?

 Whoever did all those ridiculous mean spirited pranks and misdemeanors that inspired other troublemakers to find new ways to disappoint their parents, that person wasn’t Vriska. At least not anymore. Did something happen at Derse to change her ways?

 “Maybe she’s just misunderstood.” Kanaya said to herself.

 “What? Look, I don’t care what backstory you come up for her, Lawful Good for a demon temptress is just ridiculous.”

 “Oh. That. Well, what about Neutral Good?”

 “You really don’t get the demon temptress concept, do you?”

  Kanaya never saw Vriska get into any actual trouble, but the fellow students from Prospit High still treated like a mix of a Boogey Man and some hero who should be followed. Few people dared mess with Vriska, and the ones who did were reminded that she once did some terrible thing or other and someone ended up in the hospital.

 Her friend’s reputation also proved to be beneficial for Kanaya. Though mean spirited rumors were still going around, no-one bothered Kanaya directly after Vriska shouted her name in the school’s corridors and rushed to greet her for the first time after classes returned to be a reality with the end of Summer and the star of their Junior year.

  “You’re too tense, Maryam. You need to learn how to relaaaaaaaax.” Vriska extended the word “relax” as she slowly laid down on the grass overlooking the Ivory Lake.

 “I am very good at relaxing. One might say I am an expert even. However, I am not comfortable with this situation. I never skipped a day of class before. What if we are missing the answer for a very hard question for one of our tests? What if my mother find out? What if-“

 “What if you realize what kind of view I have right now?”

 Reluctant to sit down on the grass with her friend, Kanaya stood still on the same spot ever since she arrived, and now that Vriska was lying down she could see under Kanaya’s red knee length skirt. She was wearing shorts under it of course, Kanaya was no amateur, but she still felt a little ashamed and quickly sat down. This was it, it was now official, Kanaya had been dragged to the delinquent life.

 “You’ll be fine,” said Vriska. “Missing one day won’t ruin your life. You aren’t missing anything”

 “But what am I gaining?”

 “Quality time with your best friend, you dunce! Why, don’t you like spending time with me?”

 “As a matter of fact, I do.” She lay down next to Vriska. “I do very much.”

 The eyes of the two met. Kanaya reached for Vriska’s hand held it tightly.

 “Good. Few people do. I’m glad you’re one of them.”

 As pretty as the view of the lake was during the autumn, just laying down there eventually became boring. Bowling was the next thing Vriska thought of, but they didn’t stay at the bowling alley for long since Kanaya proved to be a natural at the sport and Vriska was a sore loser.

 Kanaya didn’t want the day to be wasted, so she dragged Vriska to the natural history museum. Their stay there, for Kanaya’s annoyance, was as short as their bowling adventure, for Vriska got them both kicked out due to her insistence in touching the Johnsaurus fossil.

 “Oh come on! If that thing was alive, it would be in a petting zoo. I was just bringing history to life!”

 “Really? Is that your best excuse?”

 “I’m sure I can come up with a better one, just give me some time.”

 Their lunch money wasn’t enough to get a decent meal out of the school. They assumed it would be no problem at first, but as time passed their hunger became too strong to resist. Kanaya’s home was the closest one to where they were having their little class skipping adventure, so that was where they headed.

 “…And that is why I’m never dating a goth girl with an interest in archaeology ever again. I mean, Aradia and I ended up on friendly terms, there was none of that stupid ex-girlfriend hatred bullshit people expect from a break up, buuuuuuuut that is totally not an experience I want to have again. Seriously.”

 “If I may give my opinion on the matter,” Kanaya said as she handed the last washed plate to Vriska. Kanaya didn’t want her mother to know that they had been there so they washed everything they used to prepare their meal and put each thing back in their respective places.  “I think you deserved to be given a second chance.”

 “Meeeeeeee?” Vriska asked, a shocked expression adorning her face as she dried the last plate. “Aradia was on the wrong, if there is someone who was in need of a second chance it was her!”

 There was the sound of a door opening and Kanaya recognized the sound of her mother’s steps. Instinctively Kanaya grabbed Vriska by the hand and sought for a hiding place. They pressed themselves against walls, hid behind furniture, crawled under furniture. They were almost caught a few times as Kanaya’s mom walked around the house doing something or other, but they eventually made it to Kanaya’s room.

 As anything else would have made enough noise to alert Miss Maryam of their presence, the two just put on headphones on and quietly listened to music as on Kanaya’s bed, lying on their sides, staring at each other until they fell asleep. When Kanaya woke up, she found herself cuddling with Vriska. Seeing her sleeping like that, Kanaya wondered again how anyone could see that dorkish pretty girl as a threat to society.

 “Maybe all you needed was a little support” Kanaya whispered. She held to the sleeping Vriska tightly and drifted back into sleep.

 Kanaya’s second ray of light came in the following summer. It was bright, comforting and alluring. The world seemed to become brighter after she saw that smile, that warm, contagious smile that spread to her own lips as she lost herself in those lavender eyes.

 “Miss? Are you listening to me?” Rose asked, waving a hand in front of Kanaya’s face.

 “Oh, please forgive me. I seem to have drifted off a little. You have my full attention now, could you please repeat what you just said?”

 “I’m new here. I’m looking for Rosemary Street, could you please point me the way?”

 “Hey Kanaya, they were out of chocolate ice cream, so I got you…”Vriska stopped at the door of the ice cream shop. She let the two cones of ice cream fall on the floor as she fixated her eyes on the beautiful blond girl with the bright smile. “Lalonde?”

 “Oh, there you are. I knew I’d bump into you eventually.”

 Vriska just stood there until Rose rolled her eyes and opened her arms. Vriska rushed towards her and lifted Rose from the ground as she embraced her and spun around. Kanaya had never seen Vriska act like that with someone else before. She watched as Vriska put Rose back on the ground, as they called each other by name and declared how much they missed each other.

 When Vriska looked back at Kanaya she took a few steps back from Rose and tried to play aloof, something that Rose made fun of and made Kanaya laugh.

 “I was intrigued,” Rose said before eating her ice cream with a tiny plastic spoon. “All the rumors going around about the new girl were all two ridiculous to contain any form of the truth, but she must have done something really bad for her mother to send her from Prospit all the way to Derse. I wanted to find out what was so bad about her, and why she was so bad. She was a case in need of serious study.”

 “You talk as if you wanted to dissect her,” Replied Kanaya.

 “That crossed my mind a few times actually.”

 “Haha, very funny,” Vriska rolled her eye. “Oh look at me, I’m Rose. I like to pretend I’m a huge intellectual so people will find me interesting and laugh at my terrible jokes.”

 “Though vivisection seemed like a more promising alternative,” continued Rose. “Starting by the tongue.”

 Vriska put her tongue out at Rose and went back to eating her ice cream. That warm smile showed itself again in Rose’s lips as Kanaya laughed.

 It didn’t take long for the complaining to start. Rose’s mom had moved with her to Prospit after being given a proposition to work at Prospit University, and by coincidence the house she bought was right next to Vriska’s. Though they had shown to be good friends, spending prolonged time with Rose proved to be not so good for Vriska’s mood.

 “…and then she said that I am egotistic! Can you believe that?”

 Kanaya chuckled then covered her mouth when she saw Vriska squinting her eye at her. “Oh my, egotism and Vriska Serket are two things I never imagined I would see figuratively walking hand to hand. From where could Rose have drawn such atrocious conclusion?”

 Vriska let out a disgusted grunt and threw herself on Kanaya’s bed. “I’m surrounded by sassy mouths.”

 “Does my company confound you as well?”

 “You? Nah. You’re like clockwork, I can predict when you’re going to sass me and prepare for it. Rose is just a never ending sass marathon, it gets exhausting.”

 “Complain as much as you want,” she finished patching up the hole on Vriska’s favorite shirt  and began to fold it, “but I think you greatly enjoy being with her.”

 Vriska’s face turned into a bright red color and she sprung herself out of Kanaya’s bed. “Are you saying I have a thing for her?!”

 “I don’t think that I did.”

 “You did! You totally did, don’t try to fake it, Maryam! She put you up to this, didn’t she?! You’re in cahoots with her!”

 “I don’t know what you’re-“

 “Cahoooooooots!”

 Vriska took her shirt form Kanaya’s hand and stormed out of her room, almost running into Kanaya’s mom in the process. She didn’t answer any of Kanaya’s calls that day, and neither did Rose. The reason why made itself very obviousin the next day, when Rose and Vriska walked through the corridors of Prospit High holding hands.

 “I don’t get why we have to walk like this,” Vriska took Rose’s juice from her hand and drank it, “holding hands is so gay!”

 “That is the most tired joke you’ve ever done. That’s it, I’m taking you to a stand up show. You need to work on your sense of humor.”

  “It isn’t a joke!”

 “But considering your sexuality,” Kanaya said as she yanked the juice bottle from Vriska’s hand and returned it to Rose. “not doing something because you label it as gay seems counterproductive.”

 “I decide just how much gay I am! Not you, not Miss Sassymouth here, I decide!”

“That makes no sense,” Kanaya replied, “Sexuality isn’t something you can quantify like-“

 “IIIIIIII decide, end of discussion. Eat you lunch Kanaya.”

 “I believe that I am the one to decide how much lunch I eat.”

 “Pleeeeeeeease shut up.”

 After Vriska and Rose began dating they also started spending noticeably less time with Kanaya, as their new relationship demanded that they had some extra time for each other. Kanaya was fine with that, she was happy to see her friends happy. However, sometimes when sleep failed to arrive Kanaya couldn’t help but to admit to herself that she had begun to feel a little lonely.

 “Kanaya, this is beautiful!” Rose said as she saw herself in Kanaya’s mirror, wearing her latest creation. “This will definitely show the Fashion Club who is boss!”

 “Thank you. I’ve been working on this for weeks. I’m glad that you think it is boss status material. With you wearing it, I’m certain we’ll win first prize.”

 “We? You want me to be your model?”

 “Of course. I already asked Vriska, and her exact words were “I’m not putting any of your frilly bullshit on,” Kanaya said, doing her best Vriska impression, “Besides, you’re the most gorgeous person I know, now that it is finished I can’t imagine it being worn by anyone else.”

 “Oh my, Kanaya, you flatterer”

 There it was again, that warm smile that made everything brighter. The warmness of that smile was comforting, inviting, drawing Kanaya in like a moth to the fire.

 “Errr…Kanaya?”

 “Yes, Rose?”

 “You can let go of my hands now.”

 Kanaya looked down and found that she had grabbed Rose’s hands, and had gotten very close to her. She released her hands and stepped away.”

 “Sorry…I was…I just…”

 “Drifted off?”

 “Yes.”

 “It’s okay,” Rose said, looking herself in the mirror one more time. “It’s okay.”

 Vriska punched Kanaya on the arm, a friendly gesture. She smiled at Kanaya and blinked. Due to the absence of one of her eyes, Kanaya couldn’t tell if she blinked at her or if she did so because she had to.

 “Skipping class again, eh? Maryam girl is finally loosening up!”

 “You seriously do not remember?”

 “Remember what?”

 Kanaya put her arms forward, the palms facing up and gestured at the scenery as she opened her arms. Vriska took a look at Ivory Lake then looked back at Kanaya, still confused.

 “What is it?”

 “It’s the anniversary of the first day I skipped class with you! I can’t believe you don’t remember!”

 “Oh. It’s been a year already?”

 Kanaya sat down and then laid down on the grass. “I have this day as a special day for our friendship.”

 “Yeah,” Vriska laid down next to her and both watched the clouds drift by, “The way you cheated at bowling was special alright.”

 “For the last time, I did not cheat. How does one even cheat at bowling?”

 “No idea, but I’m sure you figured out how.”

 Kanaya took Vriska’s hand in hers and held tightly. She looked at Vriska and wondered if she had always had been that beautiful. When Vriska looked back, she quickly returned her gaze at the clouds above and released her hand.

 “Kanaya?” Her mother entered her room, turning on the lights. “Your friends are here. They are worried about you.”

 “Tell them to go away.”

 “You’re not the boss of me!” Vriska shouted as she entered the bedroom, followed by Rose. “You don’t just disappear for a week and then get to make demands, Maryam. What’s wrong with you?”

 “Mom, could you leave us, please?”

 Kanaya’s mom nodded and exited her bedroom, closing the door behind her. Rose sat down next to Kanaya on her bed and gently stroked Kanaya’s hair.

 “What’s wrong? Please, talk to us.”

 “I can’t. It’s wrong.”

 “Fess up Kanaya or so help me…”

 There was a moment of silence, and then Kanaya answered. “I’m in love.”

 Rose sighed and smiled. “It’s okay. Is she straight?”

 “Ugh, straight girls. We all go through this problem, Kanaya.”

 “It’s you,” Kanaya answered.

  Rose and Vriska looked at each other, and then back at Kanaya.

 “You who?” Rose asked. “Which of us?”

 “Both of you.” Kanaya sat up on her bed, “I’m in love with both of you.”

 Kanaya’s mom was worried, they had been in that room for a long time. Hours passed, the afternoon and the night drifted by and morning arrived before she even noticed. Had her friends left without she noticing? Did they spend the night there? She opened to door of Kanaya’s room to check in on her, and found Rose and Vriska wearing different sets of Kanaya’s pajamas, sleeping on her bed with Kanaya in the middle.

 There was a red carpet leading to the front door of the Lalonde residence. Inside there were balloons, colorful lights and loud music. The school may have prohibited the three of them from going to the prom, but Kanaya and her girlfriends were having their own prom anyway.

 “There you are!” Vriska, wearing Kanaya’s prize winning dress, rushed to her and lifted her off the ground as they embraced each other. As they spun, Vriska lost her balance and they would have fallen if Rose, wearing a tuxedo, hadn’t given them a little push.

 “Alright, we are all here!” Vriska said as she put Kanaya back on the floor. “Let’s get this shit started!”

 “You look lovely, Vriska” Kanaya complimented, happy to finally see Vriska in something she made. “It suits you better than it suited Rose, I dare say.”

 “Frilly bullshit is the perfect look for you, my love,” Rose teased.

 “Awwww YEAH!” shouted Rose's mom, “Let’s get this prom started! DJ Mom is in da house, ready to drop dem sick beats to get you ladies moving!”

 “Moooom!” Rose covered her face in shame.

 “What is cooler than being cool? Ice mom! ALRIGHT ALRIGHT ALRIGHT ALRIGHT…”

 Kanaya took Rose’s hands off her face as Rose’s mom changed the music and the three of them danced the night away. Happy for being true to themselves, happy for being honest with each other and happy for being together. Things had gotten better.


End file.
